Patient
by Lizeth
Summary: With all the times Yoh's landed in the hospital, parents nowhere in sight, someone must have gotten suspicious of the strange, easygoing boy. In a place where lives hang in balance, how much difference can one headphonewearing, quixotic shaman make?
1. Default Chapter

**Summary**: With all the times Yoh's landed in the hospital, parents nowhere in sight, someone must have gotten suspicious of the strange, easy-going boy in room 302 who somehow manages to wrap everyone around his little finger. In a place where lives hang in balance, how much difference can one quixotic, headphone-wearing, spirit-seeing child make? 

**Disclaimer**: Shaman King cool. Shaman King not mine... D'oh! 

**Notes**: **smiles nervously** Please don't kill me for starting another fic. Blame Dietcokechic. This was inspired by her _Behind the Scenes_ series.   
Fic starts around that time when Ren put Yoh in the hospital and Anna was first introduced, but it's not entirely accurate.   


* * *

**Japanese Glossary**

Aa - (informal) "yes" 

Sou ka - "really?"   


* * *

  


**Patient**   
By Lizeth Hallington   
ww w.geocities.c om/lizeth_hal (take out the spaces) 

**Chapter 1 - Wandering**

"He's gone _again_!" a frustrated voice raved, toeing the edges of despair. 

Doctor Jameson turned just in time to see a harried nurse Li stalking into the reception area. Her greying hair was coming out of the usually tidy bun, giving her a more disorganised look than usual. Bringing lukewarm coffee up to his lips, the MD hid a smile of amusement. 

"Who?" the doctor asked blandly. 

Dumping her clipboard on the desk, the nursed turned, hands on hips. "You know perfectly well who." 

"Asakura?" the doctor asked, a smile tugging again at his lips. 

"Asakura!" Li confirmed, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "How that boy takes 'stay in bed' to mean 'wander whenever you please' is beyond me." 

"Did you check the gardens?" 

"He's not there." 

"Cafeteria?" 

"He better _not_ be _there_." 

This time Jameson did chuckle out loud. The last time Asakura visited the cafe, he somehow managed to get an impromptu karaoke session going. "He'll pop up sooner or later," Jameson assured. 

Nurse Li huffed and slid a strand of grey behind her ear. "Oh I know that, it's just... in all my years..." she shook her head and when their eyes met again, the nurse looked torn between amusement and incredulity. "If it were any other patient there'd be a mad hospital-wide search." 

Which was true, the doctor noted, sipping his coffee. Missing patients weren't usually tolerated. 

"It's past time for his medication," the nurse added forlornly. 

Jameson checked his watch. "Well I suppose he can do without it for a while longer. If he doesn't want painkillers, I suppose that's his prerogative." 

"But with wounds like that..." Nurse Li sighed. 

Thirteen-year-old Yoh Asakura had been brought in by an intimidating group of men and a small boy who looked minutes away from bursting into frustrated tears. Security had confronted the gang-like men within seconds of their arrival, but the little one, Manta, had insisted that they were friends. Asakura had been taken to Emergency and diagnosed with multiple abrasions and bruises, but the worst was a long, clean, diagonal slash that went from his shoulder to his hip. 

She shuddered. "Any word on how he got his injuries?" 

"Not so much as a peek. The boy won't talk and anytime we ask him he just gives that clueless smile of his." 

Nurse Li have an unladylike snort. She knew exactly what expression the doctor was talking about. No female member of staff could face that Asakura-smile without melting into a puddle of maternal goo. There was something inherently... bright about Yoh Asakura. Something that spoke of sincere goodwill towards everyone. 

"What _I_ want to know," Doctor Jameson's face darkened, "Is why someone would want to hurt him... and where the hell his parents are."   


* * *

"He'd better be there..." she muttered. 

Nurse Li walked towards room 302 in vain hope that her patient hadn't wandered off again. Young Asakura had healed remarkably quickly in only five days. With any luck, he'd be released tomorrow... still much too early for her liking, but Yoh was visibly itching to get out. 

The nurse breathed a prayer of thanks when she heard a voice from within the room and raised a hand to knock. That was when the _words_ spoken actually caught her attention. 

_"-damaru, I'm fine. Don't worry. Next time we fight, I won't lose!"_

_Fight? **Next** time?!_ Heart in her throat, the aging nurse practically slammed the door open. "Young man-!" 

...Only to find Yoh staring bewilderedly at her... and no one else in the room. The nurse looked around suspiciously. 

"Asakura-kun..." she said slowly, eyes still scanning every nook and cranny for a possible culprit. Not that there were many places to hide on the bare, whitewashed room. "Who were you talking to?" 

The boy blinked once, and Nurse Li was just able to catch a flicker of calculation in those droopy dark eyes. It was gone in a moment as Yoh smiled his silly smile. 

"Ara? Just my friend Amidamaru," he waved a hand lazily at the empty air beside him. "He worries too much, that he does. Kinda like a mother hen." 

_Amidamaru?_ Li stared at Yoh. Then at the air. Then at Yoh once more, who stared back guilelessly. Hesitantly, she broke into a smile. "Aren't you a little too old to have imaginary friends?" 

"You're never too old to have imaginary friends," Yoh grinned easily, "People only stop because other people expect them to, and then they pick up the interesting habit of talking to themselves instead." _Which is_ so _much better_, the boy's eyes teased. 

Arching an eyebrow, Li crossed her arms defensively. "I'm quite sure I have no idea what you're talking about," the nurse said primly.   


* * *

"Hm?" Nurse Ansley frowned, seeing the door to room 443 slightly ajar. _It's past visiting hours, and Mallory-san never gets visitors anymore..._

Frown deepening, the young nurse approached the darkened room and cautiously stuck her head in. "Hello? Anyone here?" 

"Yo." 

"_Arg!_" Startled, she took an involuntary step back. 

"Whoa, sorry. Didn't mean to startle you," the youthful voice apologized, laughing sheepishly. 

Breathing deeply, the nurse fumbled for the light switch. Flicking the lights on, Nurse Ansley was confronted with the figure of a boy who couldn't have been more than 13. Orange headphones were draped loosely around his neck, partially hidden by sienna hair. His torso was tightly bound with bandages under his open white shirt. 

Blinking lazily to adjust to the sudden brightness, the boy look up at her and smiled. "Hi, I'm Asakura Yoh." 

Goodness, he was only a child! 

"You shouldn't be here," the nurse chided. 

"I know," the boy grinned sheepishly. "But he was lonely," he explained, gesturing to the unmoving man in the bed. 

_Lonely?_ Ansley looked at the boy in confusion. "Mallory-san has been in a coma for months," she said, walking over. 

"I know," he agreed congenially. 

"Stroke," Ansley added, not quite certain why she was explaining this to the boy. He watched her silently as she fussed over the elderly patient and Ansley found herself growing nervous. Those droopy eyes were strangely compelling. 

"Why doesn't anyone come?" he asked at last, hands clasped behind his back. 

"Mallory-san has only one son," she said quietly, straightening the sheets, "and he's travelling abroad." 

Asakura-kun frowned slightly. 

"He's old," Ansley sighed. "The doctors don't think he'll wake. I guess... his son just just gave up on him." 

"That's not cool," the boy pointed out. Ansley was surprised to hear true feeling behind that flippant remark. 

"It is too bad," she agreed. "No one's come to visit him in a long time. That's why I was so surprised to see you here." 

Yoh was silent for a moment. "That's okay. From now on, I can keep him company." Reaching out, the dark haired teen gently took an old, wrinkled hand in his youthful ones and smiled brightly. "Everyone needs a friend sometimes, ne?" 

Ansley couldn't help but stare, taken by the life in his eyes. Then something clicked. "I suppose, but right now... I have a feeling you're supposed to be in your _own_ room." 

Yoh's smile melted into a pout. "Aw, c'mon," he wheedled. 

"You're that _wanderer_ I've heard about, aren't you?" she teased, "The one that's been giving Li-san grey hairs." 

"Don't tell her!" Yoh protested. 

"To your room." 

"Ten more minutes," Yoh bargained. 

"No." 

"Five more minutes?" 

"Nope." 

"One more minutes?" 

"Get out," Ansley ordered, catching the boy's playful mood. 

"Aaaww," the teen whined, hands knitted behind his head. "But I can't leave Mallory-san." 

"Mallory-san will still be here in the morning, Asakura-kun." 

Yoh paused and turned to look at her so piercingly Ansley couldn't help but freeze. 

One beat. 

Two beats. 

Three beats of a heart. 

"Asakura-kun?" 

And then the boy's posture eased, eyes turning to look at the far wall as he nodded. "Sou ka... aa... I supposed you're right." He shook himself, smile back in place. "Well, g'night Miss Nurse," he said cheerfully, peering out the door to make sure the hall was clear before slinking back to his room. 

Ansley placed her hand over her chest to find her heart beating inexplicably fast. 

_Strange child..._ she thought, shaking her head to clear it. As she turned out the lights, she paused by the door. Somehow, the atmosphere in the room didn't feel quite as forboding as before.   


* * *

Amidamaru floated serenely, sheathed katana propped up on his shoulder as he kept quiet vigil. 

Below him, an empty shell of a man flickered between life and death, caught in unnatural sleep. 

"...He's a good lad," another spirit commented reluctantly as he floated to rest beside the silent samurai, long after Ansley had left. 

"That he is," the swordsman replied, a fond smile softening his face. His eyes lifted briefly to the other spirit's aged features. "I am very lucky he found me." 

"...Hmph..." Jim Mallory grunted, arms crossed over a transparent chest. Unheard and unseen, the two spirits kept watch over the night. "...So am I."   


* * *

"So he finally quit." 

"Any word from his son?" 

"Can't be reached." 

"Awful." 

_I don't believe it,_ Ansley thought dazedly, a vaguely horrified expression on her face. Sure, it wasn't unexpected. No one believed Mallory-san would ever wake from his coma but... that he would actually die... so quietly... so peacefully in the middle of the night... _Why now?!_

She'd been trained to accept death. Told that it was impossible to save everyone, but this... this was different. 

Ansley's hands tightened around his clipboard as she walked towards room 443, her mind in turmoil. _"Mallory-san will still be here in the morning, Asakura-kun."_ She sighed, disgusted with herself. _I'm so stupid! What on earth am I supposed to tell him now?_

Almost on instinct, Ansley looked up and caught a flash of orange headphones. 

_Oh. No._

"Asakura-kun!" she called as loudly as she dared, shoes clicking faster against the tiles as she attempted to catch up. "Asakura-kun, wait!" 

Through the hall. 

Around a trolley. 

And still, somehow, she couldn't quite reach him- 

-until they were standing at the door marked _443_. 

...Looking into an empty room. 

"A-asakura-kun, I'm so sorry. I... I don't know what to tell you..." she stuttered, heart clenching as the boy stared, unmoving, in the threshold. 

For Ansley, caught in a spiral of her own guilt-ridden thoughts, the silence dragged for what felt like eternity. Nerves already raw, she jumped a few feet when the teen suddenly clapped his hands in front of him and bowed to the empty room, bending deeply in a motion that must have aggravated his chest wound. 

With a sigh, Asakura straightened again. 

"...Don't worry so much, Miss Nurse," he said, finally turning to her with a look of understanding that made all her fears melt away, even as his next statement bewildered her to no end. Orange headphones placed firmly over his ears, Yoh smiled and let his eyes droop. "He was still here in the morning." 

TBC   


* * *

**End Notes**: Yes, I like Rurouni Kenshin too. Samurais and idiots. You can't beat that combo. ^_^ No, I don't watch hospital shows, so I have no idea what I'm doing. 

Next time... Yoh gets to go home and... maybe I'll start on the post-Faust visit to the hospital. Hope this wasn't too bad. I wrote it in roughly five hours. 

Review? Onegai? 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary**: Based on the anime and set after Ren and Yoh's first battle. With all the times Yoh's landed in the hospital, parents nowhere in sight, someone must have gotten suspicious of the strange, easy-going boy in room 302 who somehow manages to wrap everyone around his little finger. In a place where lives hang in balance, how much difference can one quixotic, headphone-wearing, spirit-seeing child make?

**Disclaimer**: Shaman King characters are not mine, of course. TT

This story's plot is taking a bit of a strange turn. I have a different idea for it now than when I first started, but I'm not entirely sure how to incorporate it into what's already been written. And Yoh's personality has somehow gleaned a few traits from Shikamaru and Kakashi...

**Patient**  
By Lizeth Hallington  
2 - Questions 

Asakura Yoh hummed quietly as the gazed at the clouds through the window of his room. Strange things had been happening in the hospital lately. Nurses had been falling ill at the same time without apparent cause, arousing a frantic inquiry into the matter, yet so far no concrete answers had been found. Rumours of food poisoning had been spreading, leaving both staff and patients uneasy, though so far, no further unusual illnesses had been reported. Strange again that none of the patients had been affected, although this report was accepted with grateful relief.

So business continued relatively normally, though with increased attentiveness and precautions in place, and unfortunately for Yoh that meant he wasn't alone.

"_Asakura-kun!_"

"Hm?" The boy answered lazily, "Did you say something?"

Jiro sighed in exasperation, closing his notebook and resting it on his lap. "Why are you making this so difficult?"

"Making what?"

"Asakura-kun," Jiro said coercively. "Where are your parents? We haven't been able to get in touch with them at all."

"They travel, Jiro-san."

"So who takes care of you?"

"...My guardian."

Jiro's eyes narrowed fractionally. Why did the boy hesitate when mentioning his guardian? "He isn't doing a very good job, then," Jiro remarked with deliberate carelessness, "To let this happen to you-"

"That's _not_ true," Yoh rebuked with dismay, suddenly sitting up straighter in his hospital bed. Torso wrapped in fresh bandages, Yoh knew he looked too frail. His hand crept up to his shoulder as he recalled the duel against the pointy-haired foreigner and the heartless opinion the other boy had of guardian spirits. "He's been doing the best he can. If anything it's my-"

_Interesting_, Jiro noted, eyebrow raised as Yoh cut off abruptly. _It seems I can get a reaction out of him after all._

"If he's such a good guardian, he should be here for you," the man prodded.

"He has been here for me."

Jiro shook his head. "Asakura-kun, according to the nurses, no one's visited you except your short young friend."

If Jiro was expecting a denial, he didn't get one. Yoh looked up and caught the man's eyes. The boy's posture conveyed determined stubbornness. "Just because you haven't seen him around doesn't mean he hasn't been here for me, Jiro-san."

Jiro sighed and stood, slipping is notebook in his pocket. "Alright then, Asakura-kun, you win for now." Digging around the same pocket, he pulled out a business card and held it out to the boy. "My number's on here. Give me a call if you ever feel like talking."

Yoh received it with both hands and politely looked it over. "Arigato, Jiro-san. Sorry I don't have a card to give you..."

The man waved his apology aside. "Never mind. I'm sure I can track you down," he smirked. "What did you say your guardian's name was again?"

"I didn't say," Yoh corrected blandly. He leaned back against the pillows as if to sleep. "But it's 'Amidamaru'."

"Is that his first name or family name?" Jiro pressed.

That damnable smile was back. "It's the _only_ name I know him by."

Turning to the door, Jiro bit back a sigh of pure frustration. This was going to be one of those cases...

Unseen except by the single shaman in the room, a blue-haired samurai watched the official leave.

"Yoh-dono..." the spirit began apologetically, floating over his partner.

"There's nothing to discuss, Amidamaru," Yoh interrupted gently.

The spirit almost protested, but sighed dropped the not-issue. "...Hai, Yoh-dono."

* * *

Manta, on his way to visit his friend, had to do a quick leap out of the way when the door to room 302 opened outward without warning, almost hitting him in the process. "Whoa!" 

"Oh, sorry," a man said, and spared him a brief glance. Recognition seemed to flicker and the man opened his mouth to speak, before thinking better of it moving on with a shake of the head, mumbling under his breath.

"O-kay..." Manta blinked, following the man's movements to the end of the hall, before turning back to the door and entering the room. "Hey, Yoh."

Yoh was sitting up in bed, listening to his headphones and utterly oblivious to the world.

Manta walked over and prodded his friend with a finger. "Yoh!"

"Oh hey, Manta, when did you get here?" the shaman asked casually, removing the headphones from his ears. For an instant, Manta was reminded of that day when they'd waited for the Dead Enders on top of Monument Hill... except thankfully this time there were no ropes or trees involved.

"Who was that guy that was in here before me?" Manta asked curiously as he climbed onto chair by the bed.

Yoh smoothed the sheets over his legs. "He's from social services."

"Social services?!" Manta asked with a hint of distress. This situation... could get messy. "What did you say? What did he want to know?"

"Things I couldn't tell him."

"I'll just bet. Y'know somehow I don't think he's going to accept that..." Manta hedged warily.

"No, probably not," Yoh sighed, staring at the ceiling in quiet contemplation. "...I think I've overstayed my welcome," he stated decisively, throwing off the covers and swinging his legs around. Poised on the edge of the bed, he drew a strained breath and froze, hand flying to his shoulder. "_Itai_..."

"Take it easy!" Manta cried in alarm, the same Amidamaru materialized with a worried, "Yoh-dono!"

For a moment, the only thing that filled the silence was Yoh's strained breathing, before the shaman's face broke into a quiet smile. "Don't worry," he placated wryly, "It only hurts when I breathe."

Amidamaru looked completely at a loss.

Manta looked half-way between exasperation and worried disbelief. "Well breathing was pretty important, the last time I checked," he answered faintly.

Yoh grinned in response and closed his eyes, a brief flash of vertigo sweeping over him for a fraction of a second. There...

There was definitely a presence outside his window. A strong, unfriendly one.

"Yoh-dono," the blue-haired spirit warned.

Yoh Asakura stood slowly and moved to the window, gazing solemnly out into the night. His expression was unusually focused, but calm none the less. The brunette nodded once. Ren was back to finish the fight.

With increasing dread, Manta looked worriedly between his friend and the samurai ghost. That dread skyrocketed when he realized just who was outside. "Are you crazy?! You can't go from a hospital bed to a brawl! There's got to be a back way out of this place. C'mon? Please?"

The brunette shook his head negatively.

"I can't run from this, Manta. I have to face him again."

"You're still hurt!"

Yoh looked down at his friend and smiled, opening the window. "_Daijoubou_. It'll be fine."

And then he was off, leaping from the sill and landing on a series of horizontal poles. Picking one up, he jumped again to land on hard concrete, knees bent to absorb the impact. A second's pause to catch his breath and he was off, running to confront the callous foreigner who had wounded him in the first place.

"_Yoh!_" Manta yelled as loud as he dared, leaning out the window into the cold night, before turning and dashing out the room with a strangled groan of anxiety. If Yoh couldn't beat Ren when he was at his best, what chance did he have now that he was wounded?

Heart pounding, Manta ran for the stairs.

* * *

"I'm sorry we can't be more helpful, Jiro-san," a nurse said apologetically as she stood by the lobby door. "With everything that's been going on at the hospital lately..." 

"It's hardly something you need to apologize for, Li-san," the man replied, bowing. "We'll straighten this out, I promise you."

"I hope so," the elderly nurse sighed. "Asakura-kun really is a good boy. Kind heart."

"I don't doubt that," Jiro assured, "That might actually be the problem. If-" he paused and corrected himself. "-Someone _has_ hurt him. Deliberately. And he's still protecting them, which is not entirely unheard of, but I don't think he's doing it out of fear or guilt. That might end up making things more difficult in the end."

Li-san suddenly straightened in alarm and Jiro felt the need to reassure her but quickly realized that she was staring perplexedly over his shoulder.

"What?" he asked and turned to look behind him.

"I thought I just saw Asakura-kun running out the gate," she frowned. "But that can't be-"

"'Scuse me!" cried a harried voice as something zipped past their knees and pounded out of the premises. It took a while to realize that it had been Manta.

Both adults looked at each other with increasing uneasiness.

"That was Asakura's best friend, wasn't it?" Jiro asked warily.

"Yes," the nurse breathed apprehensively.

Briefly, they shared a look, then almost as one they turned and ran in search of the boy.

* * *

The anxious combination of tag and hide and seek that followed lead both adults to a park surrounded by trees. Shadows stretched ominously across the grounds as the moon crept higher into the sky. 

"I can't find him," Jiro growled in frustration as he heard Nurse Li come up behind him, still scanning the darkened paths for any sign of either Asakura-kun or his best friend.

Li, slightly out of breath, raised her pager. "I got a message from the hospital. They've confirmed that Yoh-kun is missing, but no one saw him leaving the hospital. None of the guards saw him anywhere near the doors."

"But you're sure you saw him?" the man asked.

"_Yes_," Li nodded. "And Manta-kun ran out right after."

"Damn, where is he?" he growled in frustration.

"Ah-!"

A small figure stumbled from the tree line, managing a few steps before pitching helplessly forward.

"Is that... _Yoh-kun!_" the nurse cried in dismay as she ran to the fallen boy, carefully turning him over and examining his accumulated injuries. Several new cuts and bruises had been added to the collection and a fine sheen of feverish sweat dotted his skin.

Dark eyes slitted open as Yoh squinted fuzzily up at the old woman. Then, finally focusing on her face, he cracked a tired, quiet smile. "Li-san."

The woman drew a hissing breath, released it and whispered brokenly, "Oh, Yoh-kun... Jiro-san, we have to get him back to the hospital!" Li insisted, "Some of his stitches have burst. He's bleeding again. We're not too far away but I'll called an ambulance. I'd rather not aggravate his wounds any more than necessary."

"Alright," Jiro said tensely as he scanned their surroundings. Carefully, he bent down and tucked his jacket around the boy. _All wrong,_ he thought with dismay as Asakura groaned, fists twitching convulsively in pain.

Hidden in the bushes not too far away, Manta breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for small favors despite his own frustration. He had managed to help his friend up and set him walking, but he had no hope of carrying Yoh on his own. Yoh would get help this way. Catching the worried eyes of the samurai spirit that hovered over his charge, Manta managed an encouraging smile.

Things would undoubtedly get complicated, but at the very least, Jiro hadn't moved to look around. Otherwise... otherwise he might have noticed the broken quan dao in the next clearing, blade gleaming dully in the moonlight. Otherwise he might have noticed the pole, cut cleanly in half, that Yoh had been using for a weapon. Otherwise, the police might have been called right away, fingerprints taken, and _that_ couldn't be explained away no matter _how_ good Yoh was at telling half-truths. The hasty wards Yoh had placed around the battle site wouldn't deter a determined investigator.

Hearing the fast-approaching sound of an ambulance, Manta swallowed and carefully crept back to clean up the "evidence".

Oh yes, thank goodness for small favors.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Weird. I wrote most of this chapter _years_ ago and... I'm now living in room 302. Oo Yoh's room number. XD Eerie.  
I realize the transitions are still rather abrupt. Sorry, I'm trying to get this out in one sitting 'cause I'd like to get back home before it gets _too_ late and cold (I'm writing from the library's computer lab). 

Anyway, my laptop broke, which means I can't read fanfic at my convenience now or watch anime on Youtube. Nor can I scan any artwork. TT _So_, with my main forms of entertainment unavailable, back to writing it is. You can thank providence or whatever for my return to fanficdom. ; ...I'm trying to sneak back in and avoid getting yelled at too much.


End file.
